Our News

Local Care Home Manager wins Regional Care Accolade

Karen Fitzgerald, Home Manager at Alexandra Care Home in Newton-le-Willows has been crowned Registered Care Home Manager of the Year for the North West of England in the Four Seasons Health Care Awards 2016 and is through to the national finals.

These are the 1st Four Season’s Care Awards and this year over 700 people were nominated for awards by care home residents, colleagues and visitors. All entries have been of a very high standard making the judging process a difficult one. However, a winner had to be chosen and the nomination for Karen demonstrated how she continues to make a difference and provide special resident experiences on a daily basis.

During the judging process for the Registered Care Home Manager of the Year award, the panel was looking at a number of different factors including top of the range leadership skills, the ability to adapt and embrace initiatives such as our innovative Quality of Life Programme, as well as ensuring the efficient day to day running of the home

Karen was nominated by a colleague. Her nomination read: “I am nominating Karen because I believe she has had the faith to help me achieve my goals in becoming a CHAP. If I am ever worried or need advice I know I can always count on her and I know her door will always be open to me. She goes the extra mile to make sure that the residents aware that she is always there to help from putting on someone’s slipper to dealing with complaints, she is always there.”

As the winner for the North West of England, Karen is automatically through to the national Four Season’s Care Awards finals. She will meet a panel of judges in for the last round of judging and will then join finalists from across the UK in Birmingham for a special event to celebrate their achievements and discover if they have won a national award.

Lorraine Disley, Regional Manager for England North West, said: “Karen has led the care team with complete professionalism and determination to succeed. Karen has met every challenge head on and is a fantastic asset for me to have in my region. Her open door policy is thought very highly of by her team and I know Alexandra would be lost without her. Well done Karen!”

Rachael Junge, Managing Director for Four Seasons Health Care in North West of England, said: “The testimony from Karen’s nomination is commendable. She is well known and respected by the professional community, families and residents. Her door is always open to her colleagues, and this has been something which has been mentioned to me several times. I would also like to congratulate Karen on this prestigious award.”

The Care Awards were open to employees from all Four Seasons homes across the UK and central team members to celebrate their commitment in the delivery of high-quality services to 14,000 residents cared for in more than 300 locations.

The 14 categories have been created to recognise excellence in a variety of roles across the organisation ranging from ‘Registered Nurse of the Year’ to ‘Care Home Manager of the Year’. We also wanted to recognise the hard the dedication and commitment from our residents, their relatives and volunteers.

Tim Hammond, CEO of Four Seasons Health Care said: “The award categories are all really important as we want to highlight the fantastic people we have working here in our organization. However, I believe it is important to acknowledge the special people who go above and beyond to help others in the community, and this is why our ‘Resident or Relative Contribution’ and ‘Volunteer of the Year’ awards are so important to us.

“I look forward to seeing all of our Regional winners at the National Finals in December.”